Energy Day Launches Major Initiatives on Renewables, Efficiency and Access

7 December 2015: A number of major cooperative initiatives on renewable energy, energy access and energy efficiency were announced during Energy Day at the Paris Climate Change Conference. Hundreds of participants from governments, businesses and financial institutions participated in the event held as part of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) Focus on Energy.

The UN and partners launched a US$5 billion effort to expand renewable energy in Africa. The amount will come from public and highly concessional finance between 2016 and 2020, with an additional US$15 billion in leverage from the Green Climate Fund, and other bilateral and multilateral sources.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon underscored the importance of the initiative, saying, “A global energy transformation must reduce heat-trapping emissions. It also needs to ensure that we leave no one behind. Those things can only be achieved if we tackle the issues of energy access, energy efficiency, and renewable energy together as a trinity.”

The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) was launched to spur the installation of 10 gigawatts (GW) of new and additional renewable energy capacity on the continent by 2020. By 2030, the initiative aims for renewable energy installations totaling 300 GW—double the 150 GW in electricity generation from all sources in Africa today. The initiative is being led by the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the African Group of Negotiators, the African Development Bank (ADB), the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). [UNFCCC Press Release]

The Africa Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC) announced plans for a similar corridor in West Africa. Like ACEC, which operates in East and Southern Africa, the West African Clean Energy Corridor is to serve as a platform for the accelerated deployment and scaling-up of renewable energy, helping to meet rising demand and foster Africa’s economic growth without adding to global climate risks. [ACEC Brochure]

The Global Geothermal Alliance (GGA), a partnership of 36 countries and 23 institutions, aims to deliver a five-fold increase in the global installed capacity for geothermal power, and a doubling of geothermal heating, by 2030. [IRENA Press Release]

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) announced US$2 million in funding to kick-start a clean-energy investment initiative called the Climate Aggregation Platform (CAP). The CAP, to be launched in Spring 2016, is expected to leverage over US$100 million in co-financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other partners to promote low-carbon energy assets and low-cost financing for these assets in developing countries. [GEF-UNDP-Climate Bonds Joint Press Release]

Saint Lucia will become the 29th island to join the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Lighthouses Initiative. To date, 18 SIDS have developed renewable energy roadmaps through the initiative, which has also facilitated US$150 million in financing and the deployment of 18 megawatts (MW) of renewable power. Starting in Africa and Latin America, the Sustainable Energy Marketplace will serve as a matchmaking platform to bring together investors with renewable energy projects. The Marketplace intends to house 100 projects by the beginning of 2016 and to mobilize US$10 billion in project financing by 2019. [Sustainable Energy Marketplace Brochure]

Other energy-related announcements at the Paris Conference include the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an initiative led by the Governments of India and France that has garnered the support of 120 countries. Among other commitments, the supporting countries express their intention to collectively mobilize more than US$1000 billion by 2030 to scale up solar energy deployment. [UNFCCC Press Release] [IISD RS News Story]

Royal Philips committed to become carbon neutral by 2020, after the company cut its carbon footprint by 40% between 2007 and 2015. Speaking at the Energy Day Summit, Eric Rondolat, Chief Executive Officer, Philips Lighting, urged leaders to set more aggressive targets, cautioning against “a potentially catastrophic rise in global temperatures.” He lauded energy efficiency as a critical goal, saying that, “Faster adoption of LED lighting, and a drive to renovate existing city infrastructure and greater use of solar-powered LED lighting would have a huge impact.” [Philips Press Release]

The LPAA is a joint undertaking of the Peruvian and French COP presidencies, the Office of the UN Secretary-General and the UNFCCC Secretariat. It is convening on the sidelines of the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC. The LPAA hosted the event together with the Sustainable Energy For All (SE4All) initiative and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).